LOS ANGELES — A 7-year-old girl is spreading awareness about Down syndrome.
According to Fox News, little Sofia Sanchez was abandoned at birth and spent the first year of her life in a Russian orphanage. In 2010, when she was 16 months old, she was adopted by the Sanchezes, an American family in California who already had a son, Joaquin, who was born with Down syndrome.
"I'm able to give my sons, especially Joaquin, a sibling that understands him, that's like him ... They can share their journey together," Sanchez told ABC News.
Since then, Sofia has become an Instagram sensation, sharing positive messages about her disability. She has also become a model, posing for ads with Target.
"Is Down syndrome scary?" Sofia's mother, Jennifer Sanchez, asks the girl in a video she posted at the beginning of October, Down Syndrome Awareness Month.
"No, it's not scary," Sofia responds. "It's exciting!"
"I can do anything I want -- anything at all," the girl says in another video.
Watch Sofia, who acknowledges that she is "special," "kind," "patient" and "beautiful," talk about Down syndrome from her own perspective below.
October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month and Sofia would like to say a few things!
A video posted by Jennifer Varanini Sanchez (@jvaraninisanchez) on
A video posted by Jennifer Varanini Sanchez (@jvaraninisanchez) on
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